FOOTBALL: Algeo on hand to see postseason mark matched

Former Lansdale Catholic football head coach Jim Algeo, left and his wife Mickey were in the stands Friday night to see son and assistant coach Jim Algeo Jr. and the Pottsgrove football team match the Crusaders’ mark of 15 postseason wins by a Pioneer Athletic Conference team. (File photo by Andy Stettler/JRC)

LOWER POTTSGROVE — Jim Algeo may not be on the sidelines anymore, but he certainly isn’t out of the game.

The longtime Lansdale Catholic coach, who resigned last year after a Hall of Fame career that spanned 44 seasons, was in the stands last Friday night to watch his son — Pottsgrove assistant Jim Jr. — and the Falcons defeat longtime nemesis Strath Haven in the opening round of the District 1-Class AAA playoffs.

Algeo, who was accompanied by his wife and son Danny Algeo, the head coach at Cardinal O’Hara, has also sat in on a few Pope John Paul II games, where two of his daughters’ sons play for Mike Santillo and the Golden Panthers.

What the Algeos may or may not have known is that Pottsgrove head coach Rick Pennypacker and the Falcons win over Strath Haven tied Lansdale Catholic for the most postseason wins (15) by a Pioneer Athletic Conference team.

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The Crusaders were 15-8, including that perfect five-game run to the PIAA-Class AA state title in 2004, before leaving the PAC-10 five years ago. With the win over Strath Haven last week, the Falcons are now an identical 15-8 going into Friday’s semifinal showdown against visiting Henderson.

Lansdale Catholic was 3-3 against District 1 opponents, 12-5 against others in both the Class AA and AAA brackets. Pottsgrove is 14-6 against District 1 opponents and 1-2 — a win over Franklin and two losses to Archbishop Wood — against others in the AAA bracket.

Lansdale Catholic and Pottsgrove are tied for the most postseason appearances (nine). LC qualified five straight years (1994-98), a mark that was broken last week when Pottsgrove made its sixth consecutive appearance.

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Pioneer Athletic Conference teams are a combined 4-5 this season against non-league opponents who made the playoffs. Those opponents have a combined 71-28 won-loss record after last week’s first round. All of those figures will change this week following the Henderson at Pottsgrove and Spring-Ford at Ridley games Friday night.

The PAC-10 also went 6-7 against other non-league opponents — meaning it is 10-12 overall against non-Pioneer Athletic Conference rivals who happen to be a combined 118-118 right now.

Coyne is now second in completions (357, 17 behind Perkiomen Valley’s Zach Zulli’s record); tied for second in attempts (646, 34 behind Zulli’s record); third in yards (5,177, 120 behind Daniel Boone’s Chris Bokosky and 667 behind Zulli’s record); and fourth in touchdowns (59). Coyne’s career completion percentage (55.2) is second only to Daniel Boone’s Jon Monteiro (57.8) for quarterbacks with a minimum of 500 passing attempts.

Reinhart broke Pottstown’s Terrence Shawell’s single-game mark for yards and tied Tom Shuman’s single-game mark for touchdown passes with 360 and four, respectively, during the overtime win over Great Valley last Friday night. He has also broken Shawell’s single-season records for yards and Ian Keyser’s single-season record for touchdowns, taking 2,160 yards and 19 touchdowns into Thanksgiving’s game with Owen J. Roberts. Reinhart needs 56 yards in his final game next week to become just the 12th area quarterback to throw for more than 3,500 career yards.

Former Hill School head football and ice hockey head coach Dick O’Shaughnessy was the Rams’ honorary captain and participated in the pre-game coin flip for Saturday’s 125th anniversary game with Lawrenceville. Now retired, the still sprite O’Shaughnessy lives in Vermont. … Saturday’s game, which finished well after dusk, was called the “longest game in a long, long rivalry” by Lawrenceville’s headmaster during her postgame comments.

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Four former graduates or coaches went a combined 1-4 last week in their respective playoff openers.

St. Pius X graduates Jeff Chillot and Rick Keeley met for the second time this year. Chillot guided Schuylkill Valley past Keeley and Berks Catholic, 42-21 — to avenge a 21-20 setback on Oct. 5 — in a District 3-AA opener. … Henderson got the best of Upper Perkiomen graduate and current Springfield-Delco head coach Tom Kline, 21-14, in a District 1-AAA quarterfinal. … Former Pottstown coach Steve Melnyk saw his Mount Lebanon team’s season end following a 32-13 loss to Seneca Valley in a District 7-AAAA quarterfinal. … And Pottstown graduate Eric Zipay and his Simon Gratz team’s unbeaten run ended after a shocking 28-22 loss to Bok Vo-Tech in the Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAA final.

DISTRICT NOTES

Mixed results: The Del Val League and Suburban One Continental representatives in the district’s AAAA and AAA playoffs were both 2-0 last week. The other leagues and their won-loss records after one week of postseason play were PAC-10 (2-1), Suburban One National (2-1), Ches-Mont National (2-2), Suburban One American (1-2), Central League (1-4), and Ches-Mont American (0-2).

STATE NOTES

New streak: The traditional season-ending battle in Allentown saw Dieruff end its 38-game losing streak with a 10-7 upset of Allen last Saturday. Dieruff’s last win was on Nov. 1, 2008 – a 53-0 romp over against none other than winless Allen.

Long streak: Clairton blasted Brentwood in a District 7-AA quarterfinal for its 58t straight win. The Bears can tie Central Bucks West’s state record of 59 in a row with another win this week against visiting Neshannock (10-1).

Shorter list: Unbeaten teams in Pennsylvania went a combined 21-5 last week. No. 16 Wissahickon’s 38-35 win over unbeaten No. 1 Downingtown East may have been the biggest upset. Another was La Salle avenging an earlier loss to undefeated St. Joe’s Prep with a 28-27 win.

Long night: Out in District 10, West Middlesex made sure Iroquois wouldn’t forget why 3-7 teams don’t belong in the playoffs. The Braves lost, 75-13, in the Class A quarterfinal. … In District 6, three of the favorites were upset last Friday night — and all three were playing on their home turf.